Captain Picard to the Holodeck!

Performance-capture studio Mova and Gentle Giant Studios unveiled a new “persistence of motion” 3D system at Sigggraph this week.

What that means is that the system allows 3D mdeling of images in the round – not just on a flat screen. Star Trek: TNGhere we come. According to Mova founder Steve Perlman:

“(In time) we will be seeing something that is more like theater in the round, where you can either walk around the scene or move into the scene itself. One of the first things that you are going to see like that is what people are calling navigable cinema … which will still give you a single point of view — either flat or with glasses in stereo — but you’ll be able to navigate around it while the story progresses.”

Perlman say that we’ll be seeing such interactive 3D experiences “in our lifetime”. I don’t know how old Perlman is, but a lifetime can be a pretty long time. Don’t rip out the stadium seating just yet.